Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset

Historical Description

Winterborne Whitechurch, a parish, with Winterborne Whatcombe hamlet and Law Lee tithing, in Dorsetshire, 5 miles WSW of Spetisbury station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint railway, and 5 ½ SW of Blandford. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blandford. Acreage, 2922; population of the civil parish, 414; of the ecclesiastical, 422. Whatcombe Mansion is a handsome building, and belongs to the Mansel-Pleydell family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £90 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is a building of stone and flint in mixed styles of architecture, and has been restored. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a working-men's club.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient County

Dorsetshire

Diocese

Salisbury

Hundred

Coombs Ditch

Poor Law union

Blandford (1835-)

Registration district

Blandford

Registration sub-district

Milton Abbas

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1599. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).

Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The parish church of St. Mary is an edifice of stone and flint, in mixed styles, consisting of nave, aisles, south transept, south porch and a central embattled tower containing 5 bells: the font bears date 1450, and the beautifully decorated pulpit, brought from the old parish church at Milton, has been restored: there are several tablets to former vicars and residents: the east and west windows are stained, and there are others, two being in memory of Lieut. Tyrwhitt, son of a former vicar: in 1829 the church was restored, at a cost of about £2,000, and in 1870 a new organ was added and further restoration effected, at a cost of £69: there are 400 sittings: the yew trees in the churchyard form a delightful avenue from the east entrance to the church.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Winterborne Whitechurch was in Blandford Registration District from 1837 to 1956 and Poole Registration District from 1956 to 1974

Maps

Online maps of Winterborne Whitechurch are available from a number of sites: